Sunday Night Football this week was pretty darn awesome with the Cincinnati Bengals winning their fourth consecutive game in a hard-fought contest against the Buffalo Bills.
Cincinnati opened the game having taken a 14-7 lead after the first quarter after two long touchdown drives. Its defense relied on two Bills turnovers to take it the rest of the way.
Joe Burrow completed 31-of-44 passes for 348 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions in the 24-18 win. Josh Allen threw yet another interception for the Bills, and is now tied for the league lead in that category.
Below, we look at the top highlights with analysis from Cincinnati’s fourth consecutive win.
Related: Bold predictions for Bills at Bengals
Sunday Night Football highlights Week 9
The Buffalo Bills finally made this a game via a 75-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 17-yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs.
Allen then hit Diggs on a two-point conversion to make it a 24-18 game with just over three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Can Buffalo’s defense hold and give the ball back to its offense with a chance to win?
Cincinnati was looking to put this one on ice, driving midway through the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead.
Buffalo defense tightened near the goal line, leading to a Bengals field goal and a 24-10 lead. Can Josh Allen and Co. mount a comeback?
Buffalo’s continued issues turning the ball over came up big time in the fourth quarter on Sunday night with rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid losing a fumble as the Bills were driving to make this a one-score game. It was an absolutely incredible play from Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt.
This is the fifth time in nine games that Buffalo has committed multiple turnovers in a game. That’s just not a recipe for success.
The Bills needed their defense to make a play with the team down 11 points late in the third quarter on Sunday Night Football. That’s exactly what the team did in stopping Cincinnati on a fourth-and-five from the Bills 37-yard line.
Star safety Micah Hyde was in on the tackle of Bengals tight end Drew Sample after a short pass of just two yards with five yards to go. Now, we’ll have to wait and see if Buffalo’s offense can do anything.
Still trailing 21-7 in the third quarter, Buffalo was able to put up its first points since the opening possession. It came via a 34-yard field goal from Tyler Bass as Cincinnati’s defense toughened inside the red zone.
So, it’s not necessarily about wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins for Cincinnati on Sunday night. Instead, the Bengals’ tight ends came to play.
With Cincinnati up 14-7 in the second quarter, Joe Burrow hit tight end Drew Sample on a 22-yard touchdown to give the Bengals a two-touchdown lead.
Irv Smith Jr. caught a touchdown earlier in the game as the Bengals game plan featured a surprising focus on tight ends.
For as good as Josh Allen has been, he continues to turn the ball over. That includes matching an NFL high with nine interceptions on the season.
That’s just a terrible diagnosis and read from Allen there. You simply can’t make that type of throw late and to the outside. Turnovers like these have plagued the Bills all season long. It represents Allen’s 11th giveaway on the season.
Cincinnati is having absolutely no issue driving up and down the field against Buffalo early on Sunday night. After scoring a touchdown on their first possession, the Bengals went down the field 69 yards on 11 plays. It culminated in a Joe Mixon two-yard touchdown run to give the home team a 14-7 lead.
Josh Allen matched Burrow by completing 5-of-6 passes for 83 yards on the Bills’ opening drive. It culminated in a touchdown run for the quarterback and a tie game.
It sure the heck looks like the offenses are ahead of the defenses early on Sunday Night Football. We shall see if that changes moving forward.
Stefon Diggs says anything you can do, I can do better. With Buffalo down 7-0 in the first quarter, Diggs took a short Josh Allen pass and turned it into a 34-yard gain.
The Bengals did not waste any time Sunday night, driving down the field 76 yards on nine plays. Burrow completed all six of his passes for 65 yards, including two completions to tight end Irv Smith Jr., who had all of 10 receptions on the season heading in.
Burrow got Cincinnati on the board by completing an seven-yard touchdown to the aforementioned Smith as the Bengals’ offense dismantled Buffalo’s defense early on.
Bills safety Damar Hamlin was greeted by several Bengals players ahead of the game, including wide receiver Tee Higgins.
Hamlin is returning to Cincinnati for the first time in 10 months after suffering cardiac arrest during a game against the Bengals late last season. While he’s inactive for this one, it’s pretty cool to see the young man on the field.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was styling as he made his way into the stadium with Cincinnati looking to win a fourth consecutive game.
Buffalo Bills inactives
- S Damar Hamlin
- LB A.J. Klein
- LB Baylon Spector
- G Germain Ifedi
- T Alec Anderson
- DT Poona Ford
Cincinnati Bengals inactives
- CB DJ Ivey
- C Trey Hill
- LB Devin Harper
- OT D’Ante Smith
- DT Josh Tupou
Everything you need to know about Bills-Bengals game
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